Town Manager and Your Taxes

 

Undisclosed Spending To Date:

Proponents have spent an undisclosed sum of our money to push through the Special Act. To date, the Town Government Study Committee (TGSC) has received two separate appropriations at Town Meeting (totaling $47,000) to study our town government and pose alternatives. Yet another appropriation of an unknown amount is expected to be requested at Annual Town Meeting in April. This third request will include additional money needed for already accrued legal services.
The TGSC has spent precious taxpayer dollars on:


  • •    A consultant from the Mass Municipal Managers Association who is, himself, a Town Manager.

  • •    Substantial legal fees for revisions to town bylaws made both by the TGSC and Town Meeting Members who wished to make amendments. This process was far more expensive than expected because the TGSC would not build consensus around the concepts of proposed governmental changes, but instead required legally accurate amendments (reviewed by the attorney) before engaging in productive discussions.


Despite multiple requests from Town Meeting Members, Wellesley citizens have not been given an accounting of these expenditures to date. The Board of Selectman proposes to provide the accounting to the people after the special election.

 

Unknown Future Costs:

No one truly knows what this expansion in government bureaucracy will mean in terms of spending. The organizational chart for this new government assigns 19 direct reports to the Town Manager. This is not a sustainable management model. In order to supervise effectively, a new layer of middle managers will need to be created, adding unidentified costs.

We do know that the Town Manager will be paid more than the current Executive Director, with a salary increase of at least $20,000 and commensurate increases in retirement and healthcare costs. We also know that her/his deputies will be paid more than the current Deputy Executive Directors. Who knows what other expenses we will incur?

“We anticipate that the salary for a Town Manager will be higher than the current salary of the Executive Director of General Government Services…”
                                                                                         Town Government Study Committee Report October 8, 2015

“We also anticipate that the salaries of the two new Deputy Town Manager positions will be higher than the salaries for our two current Deputy Executive Director positions…”

                                                                                        Town Government Study Committee Report October 8, 2015

Proponents have tried to persuade voters that the Special Act will lead to more efficient government services without saying specifically what those efficiencies would be or what costs they would entail.

“We cannot at this time quantify the savings that may result from addressing the duplication in several distinct Town operations…”
                                                                                        Town Government Study Committee Report October 8, 2015

 

 

Vote for responsible government.

This entire process has been plagued by a rush to push through the Special Act, without careful consideration of the costs to the taxpayers, now and in the future.


Proponents ask for your trust. Ask yourself—have they earned it?


Vote NO on March 15.